Merrimack’s Carly Muscaro Ready for Next Step After Two More National Titles

It’s been a busy few weeks for recent Merrimack College grad and track star Carly Muscaro. Since the middle of May, she’s captured two more national championships, graduated with a degree in criminology and signed with an agent to help her budding pro career as a sprinter.

Since winning two national championships last month at NCAA Outdoor Nationals, the fifth and sixth national titles of her illustrious career, Muscaro has signed with one of the top agents in track and field, Paul Doyle of Doyle Management Group.

Ed. Note — This story will appear in Saturday’s Eagle Tribune

Last summer in Rio, Doyle’s group of athletes won the most medals of any management group. In 2012, 34 of his athletes competed in the Olympics and nine medaled. In 2008, his athletes medaled more than any other management team.

It’s a class that Muscaro hopes to one day join.

It’s a big deal, and a big step for Muscaro, who said she hopes to ink a deal with a shoe company soon.

“It’s a little different because it’s a business now,” she said. “I’m still focusing on my training though. The reason why you go out and get an agent is so that you don’t have to worry about some of the business stuff, and you can focus more on your training. For me right now, I’m trying to rest as much as I can. My training has always been a little different (than other athletes at Merrimack) because for most people, their season is finishing up in May. With me, I’m going until the end of June, sometimes later, so my schedule is a little different.”

Muscaro said she’s going to continue to train with Pete Early, who coached her at Merrimack as the sprints coach.

“If it’s not broke, don’t fix it,” Muscaro said. “He knows me better than any other coach is going to know me, and what we’ve been doing is obviously working. A lot of people ask me (if my training is different) but it’s not, really. We’re adding some new things for next season, a different weight training program, and I’m looking forward to that.”

Under Early’s guidance, Muscaro has been the top sprinter in NCAA Division II, capturing championships in the 200 and 400 meters, as well as helping Merrimack’s 4×400 relay team earn spots at championship meets.

She broke onto the scene as a freshman and was close to a national title as a sophomore before finally breaking through her junior season. Once she did, there was no stopping her.

Muscaro, who was named the NE10’s top female scholar athlete at their banquet last week, is a surefire NE10 and Merrimack Hall of Famer. She’s helped put the Merrimack track program on the map.

In signing with Doyle, Muscaro hopes it opens the door for invites to more international events. Last Friday morning she received a phone call to be a last-minute replacement at the Adidas Boost Boston meet, which featured multiple Olympians and national champions. This weekend, she travels to Nova Scotia for the Aileen Meagher Track Classic, another international event.

At the end of this month, Muscaro will fly to Sacramento, California for the USA Track and Field Outdoor Nationals.

Muscaro admits, she’s not going to be favored in any of these international competitions, at least not yet. But the idea is to open the door for more invites, perform well, and ultimately make a name for herself.

The dream for any track athlete is the Olympics, and last year Muscaro was invited to Team USA’s Olympic Trials in Oregon, making it to the semifinals of the 400 meters.

Last summer, Muscaro also donned the Team USA gear for the North American Central American Caribbean U-23 Championships in San Salvador, helping the Americans win the 4×400 relay.

At the Boost Boston event last Friday, she finished in fourth place, just 0.05 seconds behind Taylor Washington for third. Her finish included beating out Jessica Beard, who has three World Championship gold medals as part of Team USA’s 4×400 team. Beard also finished third at USA Nationals in the 400 last year.

The Boost Boston 400 was won by Novlene Williams-Mills from Jamaica, who has medaled in each of the last four Olympics, going back to 2004 in Athens. Muscaro finished just 0.64 seconds behind Williams-Mills’ winning time of 51.69 seconds. Muscaro’s winning time at the NCAA Championships on May 27 was 51.90 seconds, which would have put her in second place at Boost Boston.

“I’m not top-three in any of these,” she said. “But, I know I can contend and keep improving. It’s a lot about who you know to get you in the door with some meets, and then the better you perform, the more doors that will open. That’s how I look at it. Having Paul Doyle is huge for me. It could be a situation where one of his top runners is going to be at a meet, and because of the connection I have with him, he could go to an organizer and say, ‘hey, can you get Carly a lane too?’ It’s really a big step for me.”

As for what the future could hold, the sky’s the limit. But for now, Muscaro is keeping a laser focus.

“I want to keep training and keep improving,” she said. “You can’t get too far ahead of yourself. I’m trying to focus on one thing at a time and then move on to the next thing.”

Mike McMahon is in his 12th year covering Merrimack College for The Eagle Tribune and is the founder and managing editor of The Mack Report. Mike also serves on staff as a senior writer at College Hockey News. Follow him on Twitter @MikeMcMahonCHN